A Visit to Columbine Lake

September 11, 2014

The lazy melancholy atmosphere of autumn has arrived in the high country… the tundra is golden brown, the air has a crisp edge, and the marmots have either burrowed into their holes or retreated to lower elevations. Yesterday we went out for a quick overnighter at Columbine Lake, in the San Juans of Colorado, to savor some time up high before the winter snows cover the tundra for another nine months.

Hi Tyler, thanks for your message and compliment! For a hike of that length in the San Juans, I’d point you to the Weminuche or Uncompahgre Wilderness areas. Both areas have a plethora of potential long trail combinations. Just pick up the Trails Illustrated Topo maps for those areas and you can map out a route to your liking. You can’t go wrong, it’s all spectacular!